Local music took a few hits in 2006, with the shuttering of more venues, leaving us with a small cluster of fully functioning outlets for homegrown bands: AS220, the Ocean Mist, Cats, and the Living Room. A handful of sites are testing the waters for live local sounds, but nothing’s definite. We don’t like it like this. We’d rather have it the way it was five or so years ago, when a slow walk around town on a good weekend night revealed a clangorous maze of business, with punk, blues, and metal chords emanating from more than just a few open doorways . . . .

Still, we choose to look at the glass as half full. There are many good bands in town, a hefty percentage of which are finding ways to call attention to themselves. As the era of the A&R rep trots off into the sunset, another era — one featuring a level playing field, where bands that write good songs and play cool shows can actually attract attention to their music — is beginning to emerge. It is becoming less about who you know and more about what happens if you don’t suck. This is encouraging news for those who prefer to remain optimistic. And for those who’d rather make excuses than get up and get it done, well, sorry . . . You just lost your last best excuse to go nowhere with your band.

We like the sound of the tides as they change. Here are a few other things we’d like to see happen this year:

The openings of more venues
John and Marion at the Blackstone, mired in complications of reopening, have targeted the spring to get up and running at their new location on Main Street in Pawtucket. Brooklyn Tea and Coffee House, Brewed Awakenings (in Johnston and Wakefield), the Mediator, Tazza, Nick-a-Nee’s, and the Black Rep will continue their surge to bring more great music to local stages.

More people going to see live original music in Providence
OK, so maybe this is pie in the sky. But don’t you think it’ll take just one explosive act to light the fuse that’ll trigger beefier crowds clamoring to see local bands? The problem is that once a band begins to make real noise, they leave — and who can blame them? Local bands such as Lightning Bolt, Monty Are I, and Zox are more popular outside of town.

Underground vs. Providence
I’d love to see a reconciliation between denizens of the city’s underground scene and the commercial venues around town. The bitter disconnect between the two factions has served to take Providence’s most serious music fans out of the venues that desperately need them and their beer money. But how will this happen?

The nationals
That Rich Lupo and John Chan continue their mission to bring worthwhile national acts (and a few local ones). Many acts are whizzing past Providence to get to Boston; we need these anchors to remind outsiders that there are still hungry music fans to feed around here.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse Neil Young was starting his transition from pop melodist to free-ranging noisemaker when he played these songs at New York City’s most famous rock hall on a bill with the Steve Miller Band and Miles Davis.

Turn the beat around I do a lot of thinking about music. Coincidentally or not, I have a lot of friends who don’t, but get a kick out of the fact that I do.

In living color Trying to write something original about Whitey, Andy Newman’s new band, requires a lot of invention.

Local heroes The set time, 9 pm, wasn’t ideal, but everything else came together perfectly for Zox as they made their inaugural appearance at the music industry blitzkrieg known as South by Southwest.

DIY all over again Cut from the earnest and emotional mold of bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Coheed & Cambria, and our own Monty Are I, the Coming Weak is one of the area’s fastest-rising combos.

St. Anger Plus new albums by Jewel, the BellRays, and Rebel Meets Rebel.

DIGGING IN | August 27, 2014 Savor old favorites and make new discoveries.

STILL MOVING FORWARD | March 12, 2014 In many ways, Mark Mulcahy comes off as a throwback, a musician whose time has come and, for all intents and purposes, gone. But no one told him.

THREE-DAY PARTY | August 28, 2013 This year, the Rhythm and Roots Festival turns Sweet 16, which is pretty gratifying for the adventurous souls that recall its early years.

BACK TO THE FUTURE | October 22, 2008 Since leaving Roomful of Blues, the vintage guitar hero Duke Robillard has moved forward by reaching back into the annals of American blues, swing, jazz, and R&B and by doing so, he’s told a pretty incredible story.

GOT LIVE IF YOU WANT IT | September 10, 2008 Now that the idea that summer has come to a close has set in, it’s time to start thinking about what there is to look forward to this fall.